Epigraphy and Islamic history in South Asia
Abstract
Abstract Views: 102One of the great intellectual achievements and significant contribution of Islamic civilization to the science of historiography is its rich legacy of historical texts not being limited to chronicles and books but in other forms, including inscriptions. These inscriptions which were used in Islamic culture since its formative period are a mode of cultural expression and reflect the Islamic faith itself. The earliest Islamic inscriptions date from the first/seventh
century. It is difficult to imagine a building of the early period without some kind of inscription -- as if, without one, the building would be unfinished or "naked‟. However, approaching Islamic inscriptions in a systematic way with
an academic interest began in the late nineteenth century, when Islamic epigraphy saw some of its rules codified as a result of the dedicated efforts of the famous Swiss orientalist Max Van Berchem (1863-1923) who can be
regarded as the pioneer of the science of modern Islamic epigraphy in this age. The article deals with the history and importance of Epigraphy in detail. It also encompasses the comparison of inscriptions of Andalusia and Bengal.
Downloads
References
2. Bandyopadhyay, Bimal. “Recent Excavation of the Area Adjacent to Baisgazi Wall of Gaur and Scientific Clearance at Some Adjacent Areas, District, Malda, West Bengal”, Journal of Bengal Art, 9-10 (2004-2005 published in 2006): 12-23.
3. Berchem, Max Van. Matériaux pour un Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum, in Mémoires publiés par les Membres de l‟Institut Français d‟Arché ologie Orientale. Egypte, vol. Xix, Cairo 1903; Jérusalem, vols, xliii, xlv, Cairo 1920-
2; Syrie du Nord [in collaboration with E. Herzfield], vols. Lxxvi – lxxvii, Cairo 1955.
4. Berchem, Max Van. “Note on the Graffiti of the Cistern at Wady el-Joz”, Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement (1915): 85-198.
5. Ettinghausen, R. “Arabic Epigraphy: Communication or Symbolic Affirmation.” In Near Eastern Numismatics, Iconography, Epigraphy and History: Studies in Honor of George C. Miles, ed. D. K. Kouymjian. Beirut: American University of Beirut, (1974): 297-317.
6. Goury, Jules and Owen Jones, Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details of the Alhambra, 2 v., London: 1842-45.
7. Grabar, Oleg. The Alhambra. Sebastopol, California: Solipsist Press, 1992.
8. Ibn „Ali al-Maqrizi, Taqi al-Din Ahmad. al-Khitat wa ‟l-Athār. Cairo, 1370 A.H.
9. Ibn-Battuta, Rihla. Beirut; Dār Sādir, n.d.
10. Jamal al-Din al-Makki al-Qarshi al-Shibi, Muhammad ibn „Ali ibn Muhammad. al-Sharf al-A„la fi Dhikr Qubur Maqbira Bab al-Ma„la, ms. no. 354 s.f. 1179 in King Sa„ud University Library, ms. no. 130/900 in Shaykh „Arif Hikmat
Library in Madinah (copied in 1231/1816 by Ahmad al-Azhari), ms. no 18325 in National Library in Tunisia (copied in 891/1486 by Abu ‟l-Qasim ibn „Ali ibn Muhammad al-Qahtani), ms. no. 6124 in Berlin Library (copied in 1122/1710 by Muhammad Sa„id ibn Isma„il al-Makki.
11. Murphy, James Cavanah. History of the Mahometan Empire in Spain, London, 1816.
12. Sadiq, Sabih “Qasr al-Hamra‟:Diwan Shi„ri Manqush „Ala‟ ‟l-Jidran”, al-Faysal, no. 353 (December 2005): 54-67.
13. Shaf a al-Gar a m bi Akhbar al-Balad al-Har a m, vol. 1. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-„Ilmiyyah, 2002.
14. Siddiq, Mohammad Yusuf. Rihla ma„a ‟al-Nuqush al-Kitabiyya al-Islamiyya fi Bilad al-Bangal: Darasa Tarikhiyya Hadariyya Damascus: Daar al-Fikr, 2004.
15. Siraj al-Din, Mawlana Minhaj al-Din. Tabaqāt-i-Nāsiri‟, ed. „Abd al-Hay Habibi. Kabul, 1342 A.H.
16. Sourdel-Thomine, “Inscriptions Seljoukides et salles a couples de Qazwin en Iran”, Revue de Etudes Islamiques 42 (1974): 3- 43.
17. Tuzuk Jahangiri, Urdu trans. Mawlawi Ahmad „Al‟ Rāmpūri. Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications, 1977.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.